April 2013 - Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion

CONGRESS 2013 OF THE HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES/
CONGRÈS DES SCIENCES HUMAINES
Canadian Society of Patristic Studies/
Association Canadiénne des Études Patristiques
University of Victoria, British Columbia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------All regular sessions are in Fine Arts 104.
MONDAY, 3 JUNE
19:00 2013 Craigie Lecture (Canadian Society for Biblical Studies) (Eliott 168)
Sean Freyne (Dublin) Roman Period Galilee: The Task of Recreating the World of Jesus and his First
Followers
TUESDAY, 4 JUNE
Joint Session - Canadian Society of Biblical Studies
& Canadian Society of Patristic Studies
Session 1 : Information Technologies in Antiquity II/Technologies de l’Information
dans l’Antiquité II (Fine Arts 104)
Chair/Président: Steven Muir (Concordia University of Alberta)
9:00-9:40 Harry Maier (Vancouver School of Theology) Visual Media: Visualisation,
Visual Culture, Memory and Persuasion in Emergent Christianity
9:40-10:20 Kimberly Stratton (Carleton University) Cultural Memory and Contested
Identity in the Apocalypse of John
10:20-11:00 Drew Billings (McGill University) Trajanic Monumentalization and
Imperial Propaganda
11:00-11:10 Concluding Comments
11:30-13:30 Lunch Period
13:30-13:45 CSPS/ACÉP Welcome/Mot de bienvenue (Fine Arts 104)
Robert Kennedy, President (St. Francis Xavier University)
Session 2: Augustine I
Chair/Président: Linda Honey (University of Calgary)
13:45-14:15 Nicole M. Guerriero (University at Buffalo) A Manual for Humanity’s Salvation Revealed
through an exposition of the mirrored apocalyptic elements present in Augustine’s City of God,
Homilies on the Gospel of John and Exposition of the Psalms
14:15-14:45 Wendy Elgersma Helleman (University of Jos, Nigeria) “For this is what
Adam and Eve signifiy”. Husband and Wife as Spirit and Soul in Marius Victorinus
(In Eph 5, 22-33)
14:45-15:00
Afternoon Tea (Fine Arts 104)
15:00-16:30 Session 3: Book Discussions:
Chair/Président: Steven Muir (Concordia University of Alberta)
Author: Lincoln Blumell. Lettered Christians: Christians, Letters, and Late Antique Oxyrhynchus. New
Testament Tools, Studies and Documents 39. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2012.
Respondent: Geoffrey Dunn (Australian Catholic University)
Author: Mark Vessey, edit. A Companion to Augustine. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World. Oxford:
Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.
Respondent: Robert Kennedy (St. Francis Xavier University)
Session 4: Greek Hagiography
Chair/ Président: Robert Kitchen (Knox-Metropolitan United Church, Regina)
16:30-17:00 Maria Dasios (University of Toronto) All that Glitters: Theodore of Sykeon’s Bionic Vision
17:00-17:30 Linda Honey (University of Calgary) A Show-down in Rough Cilicia
19:00-21:00 CSPS/ACÉP reception (hosted by CSPS) (location TBA)
WEDNESDAY, 5 JUNE
Session 5: Instrumentum Studiorum (Fine Arts 104)
Chair/Président: Lincoln Blumell (Brigham Young University)
9:00-9:30 René-Michel Roberge (Universite de Laval) Bibliographic Information Base in Patristics (BIBP)
Today: A Survey)
Session 6: Augustine II
Chair/Président: Peter Widdicombe (McMaster University)
9:30-10:00 Robert Kennedy (St. Francis Xavier University) Augustine on Degrees of
Sins
10:00-10:30 P. Travis Kroeker (McMaster University) Augustine’s Apocalyptic
Political Theology: A Critical Appraisal of Political Augustinianism
10:30-11:00 Morning Tea (Fine Arts 104)
Session 7: Greek Fathers I
Chair/Président: Maria Dasios (University of Toronto)
11:00-11:30 Andrius Valevicius (Université de Sherbrooke) Envy in the Church Fathers
11:30-12:00 Peter Widdicombe (McMaster University) Moses and Christ in Cyril of Alexandria's
Commentary on the Gospel of John
12:15-13:30 Lunch Period
Executive Meeting CSPS/ACÉP
Session 8: Nag Hammadi and Monasticism
Chair/Président: Andrius Valevicius (Université de Sherbrooke)
13:30-14:00 Steve Johnston (Université Laval) Vers une nouvelle édition de la Pistis
Sophia du codex Askew
14:00-14:30 Louis Painchaud (Université Laval) Avant et après la bibliothèque
copte de Nag Hammadi
14:30-15:00 Fabrizio Vecoli (Université de Montréal) Le discernement dans le monachisme primitif
15:00-15:30 Robert Kitchen (Knox-Metropolitan United Church, Regina)
Not Always Holy: A Theological Exegesis of the Holy Man
15:30-16:00 Afternoon Tea (Fine Arts 104)
Session 9: Latin Fathers
Chair/Président: Ariane Magny (Thompson Rivers University)
16:00-1630 Daniel Maoz (Concordia University, Montreal) Saved by the Blood of
the Ram the Lamb Isaac: The Akedah According to Rashi, Jerome,
and Aggadic Midrash
16:30-17:00 John M. Pepino (Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, Denton, Texas)
L’ Oeuvre exégétique de saint Eucher de Lyon: une transmission
adaptative de la tradition latine au cinquième siècle
19:00
CSPS/ ACÉP Banquet (local restaurant)
THURSDAY, 6 JUNE
9:00-10:00 Annual General Meeting of CSPS/ACÉP (Fine Arts 104)
Chair/Président: Robert Kennedy
Session 10: Roman Church/Greek Fathers II (Fine Arts 104)
Chair/Président: Robert Kennedy (St. Francis Xavier University)
10:00-10:30 Geoffrey Dunn (Australian Catholic University) Zosimus and Ravenna:
Conflict in the Roman Church in the Early Fifth Century
10:30-10:45 Morning Tea (Fine Arts 104)
10:45-11:15 Tamsin Jones (University of Victoria) How to Avoid Idolatry:
A Comparison of ‘Apophasis’ in Gregory of Nyssa and PseudoDionysius the Areopagite
11:15-11:45 Ariane Magny (Thompson Rivers University) The transmission of an antiChristian text in Late Antiquity: The case of Porphyry’s Against the
Christians
12:00-13:30 Lunch Period
ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS:
Maria Dasios, University of Toronto ([email protected])
All that Glitters: Theodore of Sykeon’s Bionic Vision
My paper treats an episode in the sixth-century Life of St. Theodore of Sykeon wherein
the saint demonstrates his clairvoyance by discerning the “unworthiness” of silver liturgical
implements secretly repurposed from a prostitute’s chamber-pot. I will draw upon potential
intertexts for the topos of the chamber-pot of precious metal, throwing into relief competing
discourses of purity and contamination, appearance and essence, renunciation and “conspicuous
consumption” in this episode. I’m particularly interested in how these discourses coalesce around
the figure of the ascetic saint, especially one, like Theodore, in whose hagiography one might
detect a trafficking in various forms of “capital.”
Geoffrey Dunn, Australian Catholic University ([email protected])
Zosimus and Ravenna: Conflict in the Roman Church in the Early Fifth Century
One of the little known incidents from the episcopate of Zosimus in Rome between 417 and 418
concerns clergy from his own church. From Ep. 14 (JK 345) (Ex relatione), written shortly before Zosimus’
death, we read that a couple of groups of them had gone to the imperial court with a complaint against their
bishop. One group had been excommunicated already and in this letter Zosimus threatens the same fate on the
other. Their action had been contrary to established canons. Although the letter tells us nothing further, we are
able to place this into the context of what we know about ecclesiastical complaint procedures to establish how
limited the options were for clergy to complain against their bishops, especially when they came from Rome
itself, and how this incident fits into a growing pattern of recourse to civil authority to arbitrate in internal
conflict. It also indicates just how widespread was the discontent with Zosimus’ leadership style late antique
churches in the West.
Nicole M. Guerriero, University at Buffalo ([email protected])
A Manual for Humanity’s Salvation Revealed through an exposition of the mirrored apocalyptic elements
present in Augustine’s City of God, Homilies on the Gospel of John and Exposition of the Psalms
This paper will focus on Augustine’s image of the church of martyrs in City of God, and Homilies on
the Gospel of John. The image of the church of martyrs is the only image retained and posited within the
apocalyptic future moment by Augustine, becoming the exemplar for humanity’s salvation. It is through the
recapitulation of this image within Augustine’s apocalyptic theology, that a framework for understanding the
ascent of the soul, as the key to humanity’s salvation through Christ is established. The ascent of the soul is
first described by Augustine in his exposition of the Psalms of Ascent (Ps. 119-121), the interpretation of which
mirrors Augustine’s apocalyptic theology presented in City of God and Homilies on the Gospel of John. He
alludes to the Heavenly Jerusalem, and references both the martyrs and the Church, all of which appear in
Augustine’s exposition of the apocalyptic moment. This thematic doubling suggests that the Messiah’s return
in the end of days will mirror the first coming and provide salvation for those, who, like the martyrs follow the
example of Christ. I will emphasize the soul as the vehicle through which the ascent to salvation is made,
within the apocalyptic moment.
Wendy Elgersma Helleman, University of Jos (Plateau State, Nigeria) ([email protected])
Augustine and Philo of Alexandria’s “Sarah” as a Wisdom Figure (De Civitate Dei 15. 2-3; 16. 25-32)
Augustine's allegorical presentation of Sarah, Abraham's wife, is based solidly on the Pauline exegesis
of the account of Sarah and Hagar in Galatians 4. 21-31. Use of the allegorical approach of Philo of Alexandria
in the preaching and writing of Ambrose (as in his De Abrahamo II) would have given the immediate
inspiration for Augustine's approach. He made grateful use of such allegories to answer critique of the Old
Testament by Manichaeans like Faustus. In that connection, it is noteworthy that Sarah is assigned a pivotal
role at a strategic point in the discussion of the growth and progress of Augustine's two cities, De Civitate Dei
15.2-3. Is Augustine familiar with the precedent of earlier Christian Fathers (Clement of Alexandria, Origen) in
their use of Philo's allegory of Sarah in his De Congressu Eruditionis Gratia, as a figure of wisdom (or virtue),
with her servant Hagar representing preparatory studies, the liberal arts (enkuklia paideia)? Augustine's early
work on the liberal arts, with wisdom as the final stage of the soul in ascent from corporeal to incorporeal
reality (per corporalia ad incorporalia), shows that such a theme in allegorizing use of Sarah was familiar to
Augustine, in general, if not specifically as an approach borrowed from Philo. The present study examines the
presentation of Sarah in the relevant passages of the De Civitate Dei, to determine whether there are traces to
indicate a more specific familiarity with the Philonic allegory.
Linda Honey, University of Calgary ([email protected])
A Show-down in Rough Cilicia
The Miracles of Thekla, a forty-six miracle corpus, composed in mid-fifth-century Rough Cilicia,
celebrates the posthumous, thaumaturgical activity of St. Thekla.
The opening four miracles set a militaristic tone for the text, presenting Thekla in pitched battle consecutively
with Sarpedon, Athena, Aphrodite and Zeus, all of whom she ultimately vanquishes.
Based upon my translation of the complete Greek text, this paper traces an implicit, subtle and sustained
competition with Asclepius, examines the ways in which the author perceives and portrays the challenge, and
provides fresh insights for the persistence of the cult of Asclepius and Christianity’s response in Late Antiquity.
Sarah-Nelle Jackson, MA Candidate, University of Alberta ([email protected])
Augustine’s Theatre of Text: The rhetorical structure of the Confessions
Theatre flourishes in Augustine of Hippo’s writings through ample direct reference and, in the
Confessions, deft assimilation of theatrical principles into the medium of text. In my presentation, I will
demonstrate how Augustine structures his Confessions around the rhetorical appeal of theatre, having set
himself the task Augustine of converting his fallen, theatre-going Roman Christian audience into a reading and
thus redeemable one. This argument provides an explanation for the curious narrative departure—and dedramatization—of the Confessions’ final books. It may also illuminate the work’s lukewarm reception during
Middle Ages, when theatre as a cultural form languished.
Steve Johnston, Université Laval ([email protected])
Vers une nouvelle édition de la Pistis Sophia du codex Askew
Cette communication vise à présenter à la communauté scientifique un projet entrepris cette année à
l'Université Laval (Québec) dont le but est de produire une édition critique, une traduction et un commentaire
du traité gnostique du codex Askew (British Library Additional 5114) connu sous le titre de Pistis Sophia. Ce
texte est la première source gnostique directe connue des scientifiques, et pourtant, il n’a fait l’objet d’aucune
étude d’ensemble. Outre sa longueur (354 pages), la découverte des textes de Nag Hammadi, et plus
récemment, du codex Tchacos, jouèrent un rôle important dans le retard de la recherche à son sujet. Il tomba
presque dans l’oubli malgré son importance capitale pour la compréhension des traités de Nag Hammadi euxmêmes et de la littérature patristique consacrée à la réfutation des gnostiques, dont nous ne pouvons avoir
qu’une vision biaisée sans l’apport de la Pistis Sophia.
Tamsin Jones, University of Victoria ([email protected])
How to Avoid Idolatry: A Comparison of ‘Apophasis’ in Gregory of Nyssa and Pseudo-Dionysius the
Areopagite
In recent years much attention has been given to the “negative theology” of Pseudo-Dionysius, as his
corpus has been mined by continental philosophers looking for ways to speak of excess and abundance. Far less
thought has been given to Gregory of Nyssa, except as a precursor or influence upon Pseudo-Dionsyius. In this
paper I challenge a long-standing trend in the scholarship on the apophatic visions of these two early Christian
writers, which ignores the original and distinct contributions Gregory of Nyssa makes to notions of Christian
apophaticism. Attention to the important differences between these two thinkers is not merely of historical
interest, but is shown to have a significant impact on contemporary debates about language and knowledge “at
the edge” of experience.
Robert Kennedy, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish ([email protected])
Augustine on Degrees of Sins
In his book Lying, Paul Griffiths argues that Augustine maintains the Stoic doctrine of the equality of
sins. In the face of Augustine’s explicit rejection of the equality of sins, Griffiths contends that Augustine is
referring to the degrees of harm, not to degrees of sinfulness. This paper will examine what Augustine says
about degrees of sins, particularly in his treatises on lying. The paper will then argue that a correct
understanding of Augustine’s position on this question contributes to a proper appreciation of his moral
reasoning on the relationship between absolute moral rules and the moral gravity of sins.
Robert Kitchen, Knox-Metropolitan United Church, Regina ([email protected])
Not Always Holy: A Theological Exegesis of the Holy Man
A central character in Late Antique patristics is the holy man/woman and his/her literary incarnation in
hagiographical works provides many of the key narratives. Innumerable studies have focused on the individual
holy man/woman or saints and the characteristics of their roles in the midst and on the boundaries of society.
The theological definition of what constitutes the nature of holiness and its manifestation in a human being has
been left to a few systematic theologians. The intention here is to correlate theological and social-critical
history in some instances in which a holy man is not acting in a saintly manner.
P. Travis Kroeker, Dept. of Religious Studies, McMaster University ([email protected])
Augustine’s Apocalyptic Political Theology: A Critical Appraisal of Political Augustinianism
While some scholarly attention has been given to apocalypticism in Augustine’s theology (Johannes
Van Oort; Harry Maier, et al), the overwhelming scholarly consensus—represented above all in the influential
studies by Robert Markus (Saeculum and Christianity and the Secular)—is that while eschatology is important
for Augustine’s political theology, it is in fact anti-apocalyptic. While political Augustinians such as Oliver
O’Donovan, John Milbank, and Robert Dodaro (among others) have developed criticisms of Markus’s
language of secular political “neutrality” in characterizing Augustine’s position, they have generally avoided a
characterization of Augustine’s political theology as “apocalyptic,” preferring to develop a sharp institutional
dualism between church and state and their differing but ultimately compatible spheres of authority. In this
essay I shall argue that apocalyptic tensions crucially structure Augustine’s City of God in terms of both church
and political order, requiring a more complex, agonistic account of both Christianity and secularity than nonapocalyptic readings of political Augustinianism can provide.
Ariane Magny, Thompson Rivers University ([email protected])
The transmission of an anti-Christian text in Late Antiquity: The case of Porphyry’s Against the Christians
This paper would summarize the main conclusions of my monograph for the Ashgate Studies on
Philosophy and Theology in Late Antiquity, entitled: Porphyry in Fragments: The Transmission of an AntiChristian Text in Late Antiquity (forthcoming in 2013). Porphyry of Tyre (234 - c.305 C.E), a Greek,
Neoplatonist philosopher, wrote a 15-book series called Against the Christians. Christian authors said he was
their fiercest opponent, and his criticism continued to attract refutations long after his death.
Due to the threatening content of the ideas expressed in Against the Christians, various Christian
emperors had it burnt. This creates a very special context for its study. Indeed, the treatise survives only in
fragments within a Christian, highly polemical corpus. The main authors who preserve ‘fragments’ are
Eusebius, Augustine, and Jerome.
For this conference, I propose to analyse the transmission of polemical ideas from one Christian author
to another. If we want to recover Porphyry’s ideas, unevenly spread amongst Christian works, we need to
gather fragments. I wish to show how Eusebius, Jerome, and Augustine had their individual way of using
Porphyry, as well as their own agenda when writing. An obvious consequence of this is the quality of the
transmission of those ideas over time. My paper should also shed a new light on the citation techniques of the
Church Fathers. In sum, I observed that over time, not only did the Christians’ preoccupations changed, but
also the rhetorical style they used to counter enemies. As a result, Eusebius’ Porphyry is much different from
Jerome’s and Augustine’s.
Daniel Maoz, Concordia University, Montreal ([email protected])
Saved by the Blood of the Ram the Lamb Isaac: The Akedah According to Rashi, Jerome, and Aggadic Midrash
The Hebrew Bible clearly states that a ram was caught in the branches at the historic moment when
Abraham intended to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God in obedience to what he understood to be a divine
command. The New Testament invests in changing the ram to a lamb to correlate the sacrifice of Isaac with the
sacrifice of Christ the Lamb of God. Aggadic Midrash walks away from both these interpretations, positing that
Isaac was actually stabbed by his knife-wielding father. The blood that flowed from the ram, from the Lamb,
and from Isaac each carry with them a complex albeit distinct redemptive narrative.
This study considers the hermeneutic of redemption as applied to each of these narratives based
primarily on the teachings of Rashi (Commentary on Genesis), Jerome (Hebraice Questionum in Heptateuchem
Libri Septem, Glossa Ordinaria), and Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael, respectively.
Louis Painchaud, Université Laval ([email protected])
Avant et après la bibliothèque copte de Nag Hammadi
L’édition critique et la traduction française de la bibliothèque copte de Nag Hammadi entreprise à
l’Université Laval dans les années 1970 est à la fine point de la recherche dans le domaine depuis plus de 30
ans. Elle est en bonne voie d’achèvement et l’intégrale des traductions a été publiée il y a cinq ans déjà.
Toutefois, de nouveaux chantiers s’ouvrent, en amont, pour revisiter les collection gnostiques découvertes
avant 1945, et en aval pour analyser les nouveaux textes « gnostiques », comme le codex Tchacos, ou prétendus
tels, comme le P. Berol. 22220. La présente communication vise à faire le point sur les travaux réalisés et en
cours à l’Université Laval et maintenant, en collaboration avec l’Université Concordia.
John M. Pepino, Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, Denton, Texas ([email protected])
L’ Œuvre exégétique de saint Eucher de Lyon: une transmission adaptative de la tradition latine au cinquième
siècle
Présentation de saint Eucher (v. 385-450), exégète et écrivain au monastère de Lérins et à Lyon. Sa
réputation auprès de ses contemporains, sa production littéraire et exégétique et son influence au fil des siècles
(sur Léon le Grand, Rupert de Deutz et maint d’autres...) font de lui un producteur littéraire qui mérite d’être
mieux connu. Hélas même les manuels les plus récents n’ont pas suivi le développement des études
euchériennes
Cette communication s’attardera surtout à son maniement des sources (ses prétextes) en matière d’exégèse.
Loin d’être un simple compilateur, il intervient tant par paraphrase que par abréviation (parfois tendancieuse)
pour donner au texte cité un sens nouveau adapté à son contexte monastique et théologique. L’on a ainsi sous
les yeux un exemple de mutation de tradition dans l’acte même de transmission.
René-Michel Roberge, Universite de Laval ([email protected])
Bibliographic Information Base in Patristics (BIBP) Today: A Survey
The aim of this communication is to speak about the Bibliographic Information Base in Patristics
(BIBP): 1) the status of the works, 2) the future of the project, 3) and mainly, how to search successfully with
this database.
The BIBP is a specialized database in patristics, understood in the broadest sense of the word. This
database is conceived specifically for the domain of patristics and its technical language. It covers all the
disciplines working on the patristic Christianity. The BIBP covers both current and retrospective information.
Now, it focuses on the contents of scientific journals. This documentary tool serves not only the needs of
patrologists and other specialists in early Christianity, but also the needs of all researchers of other disciplines
who have to delve into patristic studies. As such, it aims at allowing a better circulation of information between
the various disciplines of patristics, between patristics and the other human sciences (theology, sciences of
religion, history, philosophy, philology, etc.). The BIBP's methodology gives a special care to the technical
language of the patristics (authors, titles of works, manuscripts, papyri, archeological artefacts, epigraphic and
iconographic documents, etc.) with a standardized vocabulary and a cross-reference system). The BIBP was
created under the supervision of a scientific council composed of the best specialists in each of the patristic
disciplines and with the collaboration of an international network of patrologists for the identification and
analysis of documents. Being a nonprofit project, its services are free.
LA BASE D'INFORMATION BIBLIOGRAPHIQUE EN PATRISTIQUE AUJOURD'HUI (BIBP): UN
APERÁU
La Base d’information bibliographique en Patristique aujourd’hui (BIBP): Un Aperáu
Le but de la communication est de parler de la Base d'Information Bibliographique en Patristique : 1) de
l’état d'avancement des travaux, 2 ) du futur du projet, 3) et principalement du comment utiliser efficacement la
BIBP.
La BIBP est une base de donnťes spťcialisťe en patristique, entendue au sens le plus large du terme.
Cette base de donnťes a ťtť conÁue spťcifiquement pour le domaine de la patristique et son langage technique.
Elle couvre l'ensemble des disciplines (une quinzaine) travaillant sur le christianisme patristique. La BIBP
couvre à la fois l'information courante et l'information rťtrospective. Prťsentement, elle met l'accent sur le
contenu courant des pťriodiques scientifiques. Cet instrument documentaire dessert non seulement les besoins
des patristiciens et des autres spťcialistes du christianisme ancien, mais aussi ceux des spťcialistes des autres
disciplines qui doivent faire appel au savoir patristique. Comme telle, elle vise notamment à permettre une
meilleure circulation de l'information entre les diverses disciplines de la patristique ainsi qu'entre la patristique
et les autres sciences humaines (thťologie, sciences des religions, histoire, philosophie, philologie, etc.). La
mťthodologie de la BIBP accorde un soin particulier au langage technique de la patristique (auteurs, titre des
œuvres, dťsignation des manuscrits, papyri, inscriptions, pièces archťologiques et iconographiques, etc. ) avec
un langage univoque et un système de renvoi. La BIBP a ťtť crťťe sous la supervision des meilleurs spťcialistes
de chacune des disciplines patristiques et avec la collaboration d'un vaste rťseau de patristiciens pour
l'indexation des documents. …tant un projet sans but lucratif, la BIBP offre gratuitement ses services.
Andrius Valevicius, Université de Sherbrooke ([email protected])
Envy in the Church Fathers
This paper will deal with envy as it presented in the writings of the Church Fathers and more
specifically in the writing of St. John Chrysostom. Where do the warnings about envy come from? Did the
Fathers draw primarily upon the Bible and the Psalms, or did they draw upon Aristotle as well? St. John
Chrysostom brings in a social dimension to envy when he warns against having envy towards the rich. Those
who envy the rich, do not know what they are envying.
Finally, envy will be seen in its societal effect. It is not just a reflexive sin, but a transitive sin, it
eventually ends up seeking to harm its object. Taken on the level of society, envy becomes a sort of destructive
social behaviour and ends up depriving people of their personal liberty.
Fabrizio Vecoli, Université de Montréal ([email protected])
Le discernement dans le monachisme primitif
Le problème que nous entendons traiter avec cette contribution est celui des origines du discernement,
c’est-à-dire de cette supposée capacité – considérée par nos sources comme d’origine surnaturelle – de saisir la
vérité qui se cache derrière les apparences illusoires du monde physique. Il y a un lien, dans les communautés
ascétiques du IVème siècle, entre isolement (et même refus) de la société et revendication d’un monopole sur
l’intelligence de l’univers. Il s’agit de mieux comprendre ce lien, d’en expliquer les raisons, d’élucider le
processus historique qui a provoqué son apparition et d’en montrer les conséquences socioreligieuses à long
terme.
The discernment in early monasticism
The problem we would like to discuss in our contribution is the origin of discernment, which is the
claimed ability – considered supernatural in the ancient texts – to get the truth which lies behind the curtain of
physical world’s illusion. There is a link, in the fourth century monastic communities, between seclusion from
(and even refusal of) society and the claim to monopoly on universe’s comprehension. We aim at a better
understanding of this connection: we want to find out the reasons and to highlight the historical process that
provoked its appearance. Further, we want to point out the socio-religious effects of this connection on the long
period.
Peter Widdicombe, McMaster University ([email protected])
Moses and Christ in Cyril of Alexandria's Commentary on the Gospel of John
In this paper I shall look at the ways in which Cyril compares and contrasts Moses and Christ and their
significance for the Christian faith. The figure of Moses, not surprisingly, recurs throughout the commentary,
with reference to both his status and the status of the Law. But it is clear that however highly Moses is to be
regarded, Cyril sees little continuity between his teaching and that of Christ, and even less in their status. I will
set this against the backcloth of Origen's treatment of the subject and also comment on Augustine's treatment of
it.
NOUVELLES/NEWS
New Doctoral Field at the University of Ottawa
The Department of Classics and Religious Studies, University of Ottawa, has created a new field in its
longstanding doctoral program: Religions in the Graeco-Roman World/ Religions du monde gréco-romain.
The focus of this field is the study of the institutional, ritual, literary, and social aspects of religious traditions
and practices in the ancient Mediterranean world that were first under Greek and then under Roman hegemony,
from the seventh century BCE to the seventh CE. This field integrates interests of faculty from both sectors of
the Department, including six classicists as well three professors of religious studies who specialize in religions
of antiquity. The program is offered in both French and English. For more information, contact the Director of
Graduate Studies, Professor Adele Reinhartz, [email protected].
Daniel Maoz has a new book out: Aggadic Midrash I: Sample Reader. Foreword by Ira Robinson; Introduction
by Timothy Hegedus. Lewiston, NY: Mellen Press, 2012. Pp. 248 + xxix.
The latest publication of Steven Muir is: “Medicine and Disease,” (Chapter 4), co-written with Laurence
Totelin. In A Cultural History of Women Volume 1: 500 BCE-1000 CE. Janet Tulloch, ed. Bloomsbury
Academic, 2013: 81-104.
BUREAU DE L’ACEP/CSPS EXECUTIVE
President Robert Kennedy (2012-2014)
Vice-President Lorraine Buck (2012-2013)
Secretary George Bevan (2012-2014)
Treasurer Steven Muir (2012-2013)
Program Chair Robert Kitchen (2013)
Bulletin Editor Adriana Bara (2008-2013)
Ce bulletin est publié deux fois par année, en avril et novembre, par l’Association canadienne des études patristiques (ACÉP), et
distribué aux membres de l’association. On peut trouver la version électronique à : http://www.ccsr.ca/csps. Des contributions,
nouvelles, information patristique, et des corrections d’adresse, etc. sont toujours bienvenus.
The Bulletin is published twice each year, in April and November, by the Association Canadienne des Études Patristiques/
Canadian Society of Patristic Studies, and distributed to members of the Society and other interested parties. It is available on the
Society's homepage: http://www.ccsr.ca/csps. Contributions, new information on research and other scholarly activities in
patristics, and corrections of addresses, etc., are always welcome.